This week as I was driving on the interstate highway, I was thinking about the similarities of taking a road trip and our journey as Christians. They both have a starting and ending point. As we move on or trip we make stops for food, gas, rest, and sometimes just to take in the scenery. Let’s compare these in more detail.
We have a starting point for both our road trip and our Christian journey. Our Christian journey starts when we accept the Lord Jesus as our savior. We now have a destination for our Christian trip… Heaven. We also start a road trip with a destination or goal to reach.
Before we can start that road trip, we need to prepare for it. We pack our bags, get the car looked over by a mechanic, look at our maps, program our phones to guide us, and maybe put together a snack and drinks for the trip. Similarly we prepare ourselves for our Christian trip. Our preparation includes prayer, worship and reading our Bible.
Finally the day of our trip begins. With all of our preparation in the car, we excitedly head out. We are looking forward to our final destination. Just like the start of our Christian trip, we are excited to get started.
After a few hours of driving, we need to stop to refuel our car and grab a bite to eat. The same thing happens to us on our Christian trip, we get tired and need to refuel our energy. So we make a pit stop at church, study God’s word, and pray. Now that we are energized, we resume our trip.
Navigation can be challenging especially around construction, detours, big cities and heavy traffic. But luckily we have that voice coming from our phones telling us where to turn. Otherwise we would be completely lost. Well we still have no idea where we are but we blindly trust and follow the voice coming from the phone. In our Christian trip we also trust a voice. This voice speaks to us through His written word or the Bible. This navigator is God.
Wow… we made it through all of those road obstacles and now are very tired. We are in luck… just ahead there is a rest area. We pull into this rest area through some trees into a park-like setting. It is so peaceful with none of the road conflicts or troubles. It is a very comfortable and peaceful sanctuary. As Christians, we fight many battles on our trip. We also need to find God’s rest areas to renew our strength. We renew ourselves by prayer and worship. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus tells us this, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” We need to go to Jesus in prayer and he will give us rest so we can complete our journey.
This brings me to my final thought… As we pulled our car into the rest area we found comfort and peace. Just like in the Christian journey, we find comfort and peace in the church. We have no conflicts or stress, nothing to do but enjoy. We might just forget about continuing our trip and enjoy where we are at. We have become what I call, Comfortable Christians. That is, we are satisfied with the way things are now. We lost the joy, excitement and passion that we once had for our trip. We have become a Comfortable Christian.
Jesus warned us about this. In Luke 13:24-27 says, “When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.” So many Comfortable Christians will face the reality that they didn’t finish the trip. You could say “They knew of Jesus… but They didn’t know… Jesus.”
So here’s my question to you, Are you a Comfortable Christian? Maybe it’s time to take a look at ourselves. What have we done for God lately? What have we done today, this week, this month, or even this year? God will let you know what to do, If you ask him in prayer. Christ is returning soon, It’s time we get out of the rest areas and back on our trip.
Where are you on your Christian journey? Are you in the planning stage, moving forward, at a rest area, or may or maybe haven’t started the trip. It all starts with prayer.
Please… if you don’t know Christ or have fallen away please pray… Tell God you believe His Son Jesus paid for your sins and rose again. Tell God you are sorry and want to start Living for Him. He will forgive your sins and mistakes and give you Everlasting Life with Him… and place His Spirit deep within your heart. In 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
I pray that God will truly Help and Bless you. If you would like for me to pray with you, please email me at Bob.L@magnificentPromises.com.
May God Bless and Keep!
I thank you for reading my blog. I do not claim to be any expert or affiliated with any religious organization. All I can say is that I’m affiliated with my Lord Jesus Christ. This is one man’s opinion and observations. My hope is I stirred up some thoughts for you to think about. There is one place that we can find all the answers to life. That road map is Commonly known as the Bible. If you want the answers to life all you have to do is read. If you would like me to pray with you or want to send a comment please email me at Bob.L@magnificentpromises.com
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
